John Mitchell | |
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Background information | |
Born | Shannon, County Clare, Ireland | 21 June 1973
Genres | Progressive rock [1] |
Occupation(s) |
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Website | johnmitchellhq |
John Mitchell (born 21 June 1973) [2] is an Irish musician and record producer. He primarily plays guitar and has been a member of the bands It Bites, Arena, Frost*, Kino, A, The Urbane and Lonely Robot.
Mitchell describes seeing Eric Clapton perform the song "Miss You" from his 1986 album August at a Prince's Trust concert as "the single defining moment that made me decide to put down the violin and pick up a guitar". [3]
Influenced by guitarists such as Jeff Beck, Trevor Rabin and David Gilmour, [1] Mitchell mainly sings and plays guitar, but is also a multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the current frontman for British prog-pop band It Bites (having replaced original singer and guitarist Francis Dunnery in 2006). [4] Mitchell has also played guitar for a number of other progressive rock bands including Arena, The Urbane, Kino, Frost*, and the John Wetton band. In 2008, Mitchell was drafted in to join A, [5] playing bass in place of original bass player Daniel P. Carter to support The Wildhearts on their December UK tour, as well as a 10-date headline tour in 2009. In 2012, Mitchell toured with Martin Barre in his band "New Day", singing lead vocals on many songs by Jethro Tull. [6]
Mitchell is also a record producer and sound engineer at Outhouse Studios, a recording studio in Reading, UK, where he has recorded and produced music for a number of rock bands including Enter Shikari, You Me at Six, Lower Than Atlantis, Architects, The Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, Funeral for a Friend, My Passion, Exit Ten, I Divide, Ivyrise, Anavae, Touchstone, Your Demise and You and What Army. [7]
Mitchell's latest music project is a solo project called Lonely Robot, whose album Please Come Home was released on 23 February 2015. [8] It features a number of guest artists including Peter Cox, Steve Hogarth, Jem Godfrey, Nik Kershaw, and British actor Lee Ingleby. The albums The Big Dream released in April 2017 [9] and Under Stars (April 2019), followed.
Mitchell is also the co-owner and co-founder of White Star Records, an independent record label which focuses on prog rock artists. [10] Mitchell released his EP, The Nostalgia Factory, on White Star Records in 2016.
Mitchell primarily uses Cort Guitars – white and black G254s on stage, and for recording, a tobacco G210 and a blue/black G290. He also plays an Alvarez Yairi acoustic guitar in the studio, and a PRS Classic. Mitchell's rack set-up consists of a Marshall JMP1 Preamp with effects being produced by a vintage Korg A3 effects unit. This signal is then amplified by a Marshall Valvestate 80/80 power amp to a 4x12 Marshall cab.
Mitchell has since used a Boss GT1000 ran directly into the PA system; this can be seen on photos during the Arena tours. [13]
Nicholas Beggs is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of the Mute Gods and Kajagoogoo, formerly also a part of Iona and Ellis, Beggs & Howard and plays in the band of Steven Wilson. He is known for modifying a Chapman Stick into a fully MIDI-capable instrument triggering MIDI from both bass and melody strings; he calls it the Virtual Stick.
A are a British alternative rock band from Suffolk, England, which formed in 1993. They have released 4 studio and 2 live albums, including their debut How Ace Are Buildings and the UK top 20 album Hi-Fi Serious. Single releases have also achieved chart success, with one UK top 10, four UK top 40 and seven UK top 100 singles.
Arena are an English neo-progressive rock band founded in 1995. Their style ranges from symphonic to hard rock.
Flights are an English alternative/progressive rock band formed in May 2010 in Bristol. The band comprises Joel Pearce on vocals/guitars, Joe Newcombe on guitars/vocals, Dean Bowden on bass/vocals and Adam Cann on drums.
It Bites are an English progressive rock and pop fusion band, formed in Egremont, Cumbria, in 1982 and best known for their 1986 single "Calling All the Heroes", which gained them a Top 10 UK Singles Chart hit. Initially fronted by Francis Dunnery, the band split in 1990, eventually returning in 2006 with new frontman John Mitchell.
Inside Out Music is a German progressive rock record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Century Media Records and moved its base of operations to Dortmund, also in North Rhine-Westphalia. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music and became its premier label for progressive music.
Kino are a British neo-progressive rock band made up of members from other progressive rock acts.
Frost* are an English neo-progressive rock supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. Frost* released their first studio album, Milliontown, in 2006, before splitting up. In 2008, Godfrey reformed Frost*, adding Darwin's Radio vocalist and guitarist, Declan Burke, to the lineup, and released their second album, Experiments in Mass Appeal. The band disbanded again in 2011, to reunite later in September, after a brief hiatus.
Jonathan Charles Poole, also known by his stage name Random Jon Poole, is an English musician and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer, he is best known for his work as guitarist for Cardiacs and as bass player for the Wildhearts and Lifesigns.
Chris McCormack is an English rock guitarist, best known as the guitarist and co-founder of 1990s rock band, 3 Colours Red and the organiser of Camden Rocks Festival.
Dave Oberlé is percussionist and lead vocalist with the 1970s band Gryphon. After the band split up in 1977, Oberlé went on to help launch the heavy rock magazine Kerrang!. He now spends his time with the newly re-formed Gryphon who have completed a new album entitled, ReInvention, and toured during 2018/9. He is also a Director of Small Blue, a computer software company.
Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. The current line-up includes band founder Gregory Spawton, along with Nick D'Virgilio and Rikard Sjöblom. Until 2009, the band were active as a predominantly studio project led by Spawton and co-founder Andy Poole, who departed the band in 2018, with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released fourteen studio albums and six EPs.
Touchstone are an English progressive rock band. The band was formed by keyboardist Rob Cottingham and guitarist Adam Hodgson in 2003. The name was thought up by Rob, being taken from a lyric in his solo album, Behind The Orchard Tree. Touchstone's music is distributed by Proper Music Distribution.
Mark Gemini Thwaite, also known as MGT, is an English musician who has been the guitarist for a number of rock bands and artists, including The Mission, trip hop pioneer Tricky, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, New Disease, Spear of Destiny & Theatre of Hate, Mob Research, and Canadian band National Velvet plus various live and recorded appearances with Gary Numan, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Roger Daltrey of the Who, P.J. Harvey, Alanis Morissette, Raymond Watts and PIG, Primitive Race, Ricky Warwick of Thin Lizzy, Ginger of The Wildhearts, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Franz Treichler of The Young Gods, Miles Hunt & The Wonder Stuff, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, American rapper DMX, Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst and Porl Thompson of The Cure and Ville Valo of Finnish band HIM.
Drama are an English four-piece rock band formed in Bolton, England in 2007. The band comprises vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Ian Gordon, guitarist and backing vocalist Rob Heyes, bassist Rik Hindle and drummer Alan Taylor. The band are currently preparing to release their second EP - "Beneath the Veil" - featuring remastered songs recorded at Outhouse Studios in Reading with producer John Mitchell.
Clive Nolan is a British musician, composer and producer who has played a prominent role in the development of progressive rock. He has been the regular keyboard player in Pendragon (1986–present), Shadowland (1992–present), Strangers on a Train (1993–1994) and Arena (1995–present), as well as writing lyrics for Arena and producing or co-producing several other bands' albums.
Also Eden is an English rock band that was formed in 2005, when vocalist Huw Lloyd-Jones and keyboardist/vocalist Ian Hodson, who had been working on material together up to that point, invited Simon Rogers to join them. As of 2013 the band have released four studio albums and an EP, and have toured the United Kingdom and Europe since the mid-2000s, including four appearances at Summers End UK, and slots at Night Of The Prog at Loreley in Germany and The Cambridge Rock Festival (2011). Also Eden's third studio album, Think of the Children!, was released in October 2011 via F2 Records and received an 8/10 review from Geoff Barton in Classic Rock.
Gandalf's Fist is an English band originally from Maryport, Cumbria, England. The band operates and records their own material from their headquarters currently located in South Norfolk. Their music is influenced by 1970s progressive/psychedelic rock. The group formed in 2005, and built their reputation through various airplay by national radio with the help of several interviews in the "Classic Rock presents Prog"-Magazine, they cemented their reputation by playing at the "Second Stage" of Planet Rockstock in Great Yarmouth in December 2013, despite being a "initially studio only" project. They were featured in the TOP20 of Geoff Barton's 2013 Critic's choice in PROG Magazine Issue #41.
This is the discography for English heavy metal singer Blaze Bayley.
The Clockwork Fable is the sixth studio album by the English progressive rock band Gandalf's Fist. Released on 1 May 2016, it is a three disc spanning rock-opera interspersed with a professionally acted radio play between the actual songs. Each disc of the record serves as an individual element of a traditional three-act structure.